Areas in northern NSW including Byron Bay are being placed into a snap one-week lockdown after a man infected with COVID-19 visited the area.
New restrictions were imposed upon Byron Shire, Richmond Valley, Lismore, and Ballina Shire from 6pm on Monday, with residents ordered to stay at home unless there is a reasonable excuse to leave.
“People still can have one visitor at one time to fulfil carers’ responsibilities or provide care or assistance, or for compassionate reasons, including where two people are in a relationship but do not live together,” NSW Health said in a statement.
It follows a similar announcement for Tamworth after a woman travelled to the region from Newcastle with the virus.
No cases of the virus have yet been identified in the New England city but a number of exposure sites have been confirmed and the town will also enter lockdown from 5pm on Monday.
NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant said the young woman was exposed to COVID-19 in Newcastle before travelling to Tamworth on Wednesday evening, arriving on Thursday.
The woman left Newcastle before it was included in the Hunter region lockdown from Thursday evening, after at least five cases were reported in the area.
“The person who travelled to Tamworth at the time did not know she was infectious, it was subsequent to that she became aware. She’s now back in Newcastle and isolating,” Dr Chant said on Monday.
The woman returned to Newcastle by Thursday, but the health advice still recommended the city of about 62,000 people go into into lockdown.
Four regional areas have now been locked down in a week after the neighbouring city of Armidale and the Upper and Lower Hunter were also placed under stay-at-home orders.
Armidale Secondary College was also closed for deep cleaning on Monday after a student there contracted the virus.
It comes as the state reported 283 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19, with at least 106 of those people circulating in the community for all or part of their infectious period.
Those in Tamworth who visited the Inland Cafe, Tudor Hotel, Gloria Jeans and Centrepoint at certain times on Thursday are being asked to get tested and isolate for 14 days.
People who visited the Super Vape Store and Ampol Roadhouse are casual contacts and must get tested and isolate until they get a negative result.
AAP
